Selvage forming device



New. 2 E939. w. T. $ULLEVAN 2,3799% SELYEGE FORMING DEVICE Original Filed Oct. 14, 1938 s sheets-sheet 1 WDUDRUFF ZSULL/VAN.

Nov. 7, 1939; w. T. $ULLIVAN SELVAGE FORMING DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed Oct. 14, 1938 1 WOOD/70F!" ZSULUVAIV.

Nov. Z, 1939,, w. T. SULLIVAN SELVAGE FDRHING DEVICE -3 Sheets-Shea? 3 Original Filed Oct. 14, 1938 i REED LINE REEDLINE -l -J I IEED LINE AT BEAT UP WOVEN czar/1 RE E D LINE RE ED LINE mullllllllllllmg i 3114): nice WOODHI/FF 7: 5 UL L/VA IV.

Chic-qua; S

Patented Nov. 7, 1939 UNITED STATES rarer Original application October 14, 1938, Serial No. 235,044. Divided and this application March 29, 1939, Serial No. 264,854 7 Claims.

struction of a novel and eficient selvage forming device that works in timed relation with the means for drawing the weft or filling across the shed and cutting said filling, whereupon the selvage forming device takes or receives the cut end of said filling and efficiently places same in the edge of the fabric or shed.

A still further object of the invention is the construction of a selvage or looper device with an efiicient jaw device, which jaw device is capable of efiiciently holding the cut end of a filling while it is being placed in the shed, whereby a very durable and 'efiicient selvage is formed upon the fabric.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention comprises certain novel constructions, combinations and arrangements of parts as will be hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Figure l is an enlarged fragmentary view of the loom, showingparticularly in plan view the selvage forming or looper device, while Figure 2 is an edge view of the same.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary view of the shuttleless loom, showing in top plan the shed, the selvage forming or looper device, one of the retrieving devices, etc.

Figure 4 is an enlarged plan view of the looper jaws, while Figure 5 is an outer end view of the same.

Figure 5A is an enlarged fragmentary view of the outer end of the jaws of the looper.

Figure 5B is an enlarged elevated View of the the fifth position, showing looping operation complete.

Referring to the drawings, in which I have shown the preferred embodiment of this invention, I designates a bearing block which is fastened to a suitable part of a loom frame by means of bolts 2. A movable shaft 3 passes through a slotted portion 1: of the bearing block 5, this shaft is provided on its rear end with a collar 5 (Fig. 1). The shaft 3 is provided with a pin 6- which rides in slot 7 formed in said bearing unit of portion. 4. The shaft 3 is also provided with a collar 8 on its forward end, which collar tacts as a stop for said shaft 3. On shaft '3 is also mounted a hub shaped piece 9. The under side 15 of hub shaped pieceil is provided with a downwardly extending portion 1 0 (see dotted line, Fig. 2). Portion 9 is also provided with projection Hi; this projection II and portion 9 constitutes a bracket, upon the rear end of which is rotatably mounted an arm l2. This arm i2 is fixedly secured to pin l3. Beside pinion i4 and fixedly secured thereto is said arm [2. Mounted securely on the end of arm 12 and extending therefrom is the holder l5. At the lower end of holder l5 is mounted the curved filling looperdevice l6. Slidably mounted on shaft 3 is sleeve ll. At the lower end of sleeve ll is secured collar l8, Collar l8 has an extended portion 22, the purpose of which is to provide a portion of collar 58 which 30 may be acted upon by lever 20 (Fig. 1), to impart motion thereto. Mounted on shaft 3 and sleeve ll is coil spring 2!. The function of spring 2| is to keep 9 and H8 in the position shown in the drawings, until the extended portion 22 is acted upon by lever 28). Mounted on shaft 3 between the bearing faces of portions 4 and 9 is coil spring 23. The function of said spring 23 is to keep these units in an extended position, so that shaft 3 is extended to the position shown I in the drawings, with collar 8 acting as a stop. Spring 23 must be considerably stronger than spring 2|. Extending from the bearing block i are two lugs 24 (Fig. 1), which form bearings for pin 25. On this pin 25 is mounted the hub 26, which has the extended portion 23. The part of extended portion 21 has the hook 23 (Fig. 2), which hook 28 is on the upper side of the end of the outwardly extending arm 29 (Fig. 1). The center of the hooked portion 28 is in line with the center line of the hub 9 on the bottom of which is the, pointed portion 38. Hooked portion 28 has a rearwardly extending finger 3|. The function of finger 3l'is to prevent contact between the hook 28 and the spring 23. A lever 32 55 is provided at one end with a cam unit 33. Fastened to the lay structure is the arm or lever 20. On the under side of extended portion or lever 32 is mounted a flat spring 34 which is fastened by means of screw 35. The purpose of this spring 34 is to keep said lever 32 in proper position. As the lay structure, which carries 2%, moves to a more forward position, lever 20 makes contact with collar I 8 at 22 (Fig. 1) of the loop-ing mechanism. This carries the hub l8 on sleeve ll forward, against the slight tension.

of springZl until it is stopped from further motion on shaft 3, as the face of hub 9 contacts the end of the face of sleeve l1. Shaft 3 has remained stationary as it is held in position by the relatively strong spring 23, acting between the collar or hub 9 and the face of the bearing I. As hub i8 has moved and with it extension [9, this movement has caused pinion segment I4 to rotate by the effort of the rack teeth in mesh with the pinion teeth. As this rotation takes place, the filling 36 is still under tension and located in the looper l6, and the filling in effect slides around into the end of the device l6 where it is held from falling out by means of the pronged construction 31, on the tube or jaws 38 of said device I6. Note that at this point the selvage forming or looper device is now outside the warp line and clear of same. Also, that this rotation has been relatively rapid in operation, due to the pinion and rack arrangement. This allows the looper device it to move out of position so that the reed does not come in contact 1 with the looper device before it has cleared itself. Figure 1 shows the looper device in its normal position. Figures 3 shows the looper device in the warp, just before rotation. Now as the lever 20 moves further forward, it carries with it hub l8. Inasmuch as hub I8 is mounted on sleeve H, the spring 2| has been contracted and there can be no further action of said spring because sleeve I! is against hub 9, hub 9 is compelled to take any further movement, which it may, by causing shaft 3 to slide in its bearing portion 4 of bearing block I. This movement causes spring 23 to be contracted. Cam surface 39 (dotted line, Fig. 2) on projection 40 of the lever 20 (to which lever 2!) projection 40 is secured) acts upon the cam surface of lever 32, causing the latter to be forced in a downward direction, thus assisting hooked portion 28 to escape the locking point, at 30, on the hub 9. At such time, when there has been sufficient movement to cause the cam shaped surfaces 39 and 33 to become disengaged, it will be noted that looking point 30 of lever 32 prevents said lever from rotating in an upward direction by action of spring 3 5, because it contacts and slides along the lever. This condition prevents any interference between the hooked portion 28 andany other part of the mechanism with which it might otherwise interfere.

During the latter part of the motion, the filling 35 has moved up to a position near the apex (or fell) of the warp threads, and it has also been cut by the cutting device at each end, thus releasing it from the carrier or retrieving device jaws and allowing the jaws to move to a more forward position than that assumed by the reed when in the beat up position. This is necessary because the center line of the operating tube and inserting or retrieving devices (see illustrating diagram in Fig. 3) is slightly in advance of the front face of the reed, which is a necessary condition to allow the jaws to operate (open and close) at the time of transfer of filling thread near the center of the weave without damage to the reed through contact therewith.

Now, as the lay reverses its movement sufficiently and carries the lever 20, the hook 28 engages the downwardly extending portion of hub 9. This prevents the device from moving as a unit any further. Note that the cam surfaces 39 and 28 have not yet contacted each other. The idea of this movement is to allow the looper to be moved up to a position where it may be turned into the shed, and also allow time for the shed to open sufficiently to allow clearance therein for the looper to enter. Of course, the shed is closed after the loose end of the filling 36 has been turned in with the next pick.

The mechanism is now in position to execute the looping or selvage forming operation and that is accomplished in the following manner. It will be noted that the pick, the ends of which are now in the jaws 38 of the looper device I6, has been bound in, as the warp threads have changed since its insertion and it has been beaten up by the reed in the lay. This means that when the looper device operates, it will be inserting the ends of mentioned pick in the shed opening formed to receive the succeeding pick. In other words, the ends are not turned into the opening of the same pick, but into the opening existing for the subsequent pick.

As lever 28 movesfurther, it allows hub 9 on sleeve ll to move with it, due to the action of spring 2!. This movement takes place because the hooked condition of hook 28 prevents the unit from moving as a whole, as hub 18 moves with sleeve l1 away from hub 9, through the effort of spring 2! on shaft 3. This causes rotation of the pinion l t in an opposite direction from its previous rotation, causing the looper device IE to rotate back into the position shown in Figure 1. During this motion, it has carried the free end of the filling 36 into a position between the Warp threads.

It will be noted that cam shaped surface 39 in connection with the cam face of unit 33 have contacted and acted to particularly disengage hook 28 and slightly more movement will allow this hook 28 to become totally disengaged and thus allow the mechanism to move further as a whole unit to its initial position, as shown in Figure 1, during which forward movement it will have released anyshort end of filling remaining in the looper jaws 33 and 38a, and will then be in position to receive the next pick and repeat the cycle as hereinbefore explained for the next pick.

It is to be understood that the looping as well as the cutting operations are performed at both sides of the weave by similar devices as hereinbefore described for the operation, opposite hand units being necessarily used.

Referring to Figures 4 to 6, the curved looper jaws 38 and 38a are integrally connected at their inner ends M). The prong construction 3'! is formed at the outer ends of the jaws 38 and 38a, to grip the filling 36 sufiiciently to hold it while the end is being turned back into the shed. The jaws 38 and 38a extend longitudinally of the right angled extension ia, of the holder IS. The extreme outer end 381) of jaw 38 is curved to the outer end of the looper (Fig. 5A), while jaw 38a is curved only to point 380 which is short of the outer end of 38b; the curvature 38c terminates in an outwardly extending fin 38d, by which the filling passes, during the operation.

These efiicient and novel elements, of thelooper produce a highly efiicient holding means for the filling 38, during the operation of the looper which will now be described.

Figure 7 depicts the looper It in its initial position. The lay and reed is advancing toward thev front of the loom and the filling 36 has been inserted and the jaws have brought it to a position as shown in the bell-shaped central portion of the looper H3. The looper I 6 is now ready to commence its first operation. As the lay now advances, due to contact of lever 22 with a portion of the looper arrangement at 22, rack l9 operates pinion M and causes looper Hi to rotate to the position shown in Figure 8. This action has taken place while the spring 21 has been contracted and continues until sleeve i7 is stopped by contacting the face of hub 9. The only portions of the device that have moved are 2 the looper rack and pinion and the sleeve on rod 3. It will be noticed that this rotation of the looper has caused the filling to change its position in the looper by sliding around in the open part of said looper from a position shown at B, Fig. '7, to the position shown at C in Fig. 8. Thereed has moved approximately one-half inch to accomplish this result.

Now any further movement of the lay toward the front causes the looping device to move as a whole and slide in its bearing 4. until the most forward position of the lay has been reached as shown in Figure 9, which is the beat up position. Just before this position has been reached, the scissors 33 have operated to free the filling from the jaws and the jaws are then opened to release the cut end remaining in the retrieving device. Previous to cutting, however, the inserting device has closed to grasp the filling preparatory to the next filling inserting operation. Note how the filling has been pulled through the end of the looper somewhat because the looper has passed from inside of the warp apex to outside of the same. This leaves a much smaller end in the looper to be freed after the looping has been done. It is also to be noted that from the position shown in Figure 8 to the position shown in Figure 9, which is while the warp shed is closing down upon the inserted filling, the jaws are slightly ahead of the point C of the looper so that the tendency is to retain the filling in the looper until the same has been securely held by the change of the warp threads in the weave.

The lay has now reached its most front position and it now reverses and moves toward the rear. This motion continues to take place until the position as shown in Figure 10 is reached. During this movement, the looper has advanced toward the rear of the loom approximately seven-eighths of an inch and away from the beat up position. This movement has allowed the shed to open up substantially so that there will be sufficient room for the looper to enter same. When this position has been reached, the hook 23 locks on the collar 9 and prevents further motion of the looper as a unit. This is the position at which the looper is ready to reverse its rotation and insert the end of the filling into the shed in the place where the succeeding pick will be inserted.

Any further movement of the lay will allow the spring 2! (which is contracted) to expand, and, consequently, perform the looping operation through the action of the rack and pinion arrangement. v has rotated anti-clockwise and taken with it the That is, the pinion at A, Fig.

looper to the position shown in Figure 11. It is to be noticed that when the reed is in the beat up position,- it is further toward the front of the loom than the corresponding point (the fell) in the weave when the reed is away from this front position. This can be explained by the fact that the weave has a tendency to move toward the back of the loom after it is pounded up and the reed has left it; I have shown this in Figure 10, at D, as cloth expansion. .It is to be understood that while motion of the reed has taken place between the positions shown in Figures 10 and 11 the pinion at A, Fig. '7, has not moved; it has simply rotated as hereinbefore explained. The same condition exists between the positions shown in Figures 7 and 8. The loop ing operation has now been completed except that the looping device has not yet resumed its initial position. I

As further lay motion takes place, hooked condition of 30 and 28 is caused to be released by the action of contact between the cam surfaces of the lever 20 on the lay at the portion 49 and the portion of lever 21 at 33. This action releases the locked condition and allows spring 23 to expand, causing the device to assume its initial position against the stop 8 to the position as shown in Figure 7. There will be no filling in the shed at this time, however, as the next pick has not yet been inserted.

In Figure 3, 4| designates the lay sword to which is secured, by any suitable means, lever 20. 42 designates one'of the retrieving devices, which is holding the filling 36. The filling cutting means is shown at 43. This Figure 3 illustrates the position of the cooperating means, in a shutteless loom, for causing the selvage forming function of said loom. For a more specific disclosure and full description of units 42, 43,

etc., reference should be had to my U. S. Patent No. 2,170,770 granted Aug. 22, 1939.

It is also to be understood that the curved or semi-circular structure of the looper jaw-unit 38, with its peculiar opening, is very important,

because it is exposed to the filling as the filling advances toward the looper, giving it the advantage of being automatic, so to speak, of locating the filling in the looper before rotation takes tions as shall fairly fall within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a shuttleless loom, the combination with a support, of an extended portion and means supporting said extended portion upon said support, a pinion carried by said extended portion, an arm on said extended portion and fixedly connected to said pinion, a rack unit meshing with sa d pin on, means for operating said rack unit, looper jaws fixedly secured to said arm, said jaws provided at their outer ends with filling engaging prongs, and means for delivering a filling to said jaws.

2. In a selvage forming device, the combination with a support, of a spring pressed shaft-on said support, bracket means yieldably supported upon said shaft, a jaw device provided with a pinion rotatably mounted upon said bracket means, a

rack unit yieldably mounted on said shaft and engaging said pinion, and means adapted to engage said rack unit causing movement thereof upon said shaft and rotation of said pinion for actuating said jaw device.

3. In a selvage forming device, the combination with a support, of a filling looper device, means movably mounting said looper device upon said support, said filling looper device comprising a unit including a pair of elongated jaws, said jaws provided near their outer end with pronged means, means for moving said filling looper device upon said support, and means delivering a filling to said jaws.

4. In a selvage forming device, the combination with a support, of a filling looper device, means movably mounting said looper device upon said support, said filling looper device comprising a shaft-like unit, jaws extending longitudinally of a part of said shaft-like unit, said jaws provided with filling holding means on their inner faces, means for moving said looper device upon said support, and means delivering a filling to said jaws.

5. In a selvage forming device, the combination with a support, of a filling looper device, means movably mounting said looper device upon said support, said filling looper device comprising a shaft-like unit, elongated jaws on said shaftlike unit and being integrally connected at their inner ends with their outer ends being capable of lateral movement, said outer ends provided with filling holding means, means for moving said looper device upon said support, and means delivering a filling to said jaws,

6. In a selvage forming device, the combination with a support, of a filling looper device, means movably mounting said looper device upon said support, said filling looper device comprising a shaft-like unit, elongated jaws on said shaftlike unit and being integrally connected at their inner ends with their outer ends extending downwardly, said jaws provided near the downwardly extending ends with a pair of holding prongs, means for moving said looper device upon said support, and means delivering a filling to said Jaws.

- '7. In aselvage forming device, the combination with a support, of a filling looper device movably mounted on said support, said looper device comprising a pair of jaws, one of said jaws being gradually curved inwardly at its outer end and the other jaw curving inwardly to a point short of the outer end of the firstmentioned jaw, said last-mentioned jaw provided with a fin at its outer end extending to the outer end of said looper device, and means for operating said looper device.

8. In a selvage forming device, the combination with a support, of a looper device, means mounting said looper device on said support, said looper device comprising a pair of jaws, said jaws curved at their outer ends towards each other, said jaws provided at their outer ends with a filling-receiving space, for holding a filling during part of the operation of said looper device, means delivering a filling to said jaws, and means for moving said looper device upon said support.

9. In a selvage forming device, the combination with a support, of a looper device, means mounting said looper device upon said support, said looper device comprising a pair of longitudinally curved jaws, said jaws being curved transversely towards each other, said jaws provided with means for holding a filling therebetween, means delivering a filling to said jaws, and means formoving said looper device upon said jaws. I

10. In a selvage forming device, the combination with a support, of a looper device mounted on said support, said looper device comprising a jaw curved inwardly throughout the length of its Outer end, a second jaw curved partly at its outer end toward the first-mentioned jaw and terminating in a filling-engaging fin at the outer end of said looper device, means delivering a filling to said jaws, and means for moving said looper device upon said support, substantially as shown and described.

' WOODRUFF T. SULLIVAN. 

